Coronavirus: excess deaths add 19,000 to Italian toll

The additional deaths also included people who died of other illnesses which could not be properly treated as the pandemic overwhelmed hospital resources

EPA

Philip Willan, Rome

Saturday May 23 2020, 12.01am, The Times

Italy’s coronavirus death toll for the months of March and April has been estimated at 47,000, an increase of almost 19,000 on official government figures.

The national social security institute (INPS) said that excess deaths compared with the average for the past five years amounted to 46,909 in the two months in which the pandemic took hold in Italy. The figure represents an increase of 18,971 on the death toll of 27,938 recorded by the civil protection agency in March and April.

Additional deaths were attributed to people who died at home and in care facilities who were never tested for Covid-19. They also included people who died of other illnesses which could not be properly treated as the pandemic overwhelmed hospital resources, particularly